Srinagar, July 11: The four police officials suspended in connection with the alleged rape and murder of two women in Shopian will be treated as accused and interrogated by a Special Investigation Team set up by the Jammu and Kashmir government.
Accepting a judicial commission recommendation, the government announced that a separate case would be registered against the former Shopian Superintendent of Police, Javed Iqbal, for allegedly lying on oath before the commission.
The report, which was submitted to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on July 8 by Justice (retd.) Muzzafar Jan, was vetted by the Law Department before the decision was taken.
The one-man commission did not name those responsible for the alleged rape and murder of the two women, whose bodies were found on May 30, but said, ‘There is material on the file to hold that the involvement of some agency of the Jammu and Kashmir police in the present incident cannot be completely ruled out.”
Besides Mr. Iqbal, Deputy SP Rohit Baskota, Station House Officer Shafiq Ahmed and sub-inspector Gazi Abdul Rehman were responsible for destruction of evidence, the commission said.
The four policemen would be interrogated by the SIT headed by Inspector-General Farooq Ahmed.
–Agencies